Slingbox Pro Review and Discussion Thread

[hugh]

The folks at Slingmedia were nice enough to send me a Slingbox Pro which is HD ready for review.

I hope to set it up in coming days and review the unit.

If you have questions, I will try to answer them.

Hugh

[hugh]

Setup of this device was very straightforward.

• First, I unpacked the box.
• Hooked up S-Video and Audio in from my PVR to the Slingbox. (could have hooked up a second input but did not)
• Hooked up Ethernet cable to my router
• Hooked up IR to my PVR
• Plugged the power in

Once it was physically connected, I installed the Slingbox software. Went through a wizard asking what my source was, checked my source, setup a password and an admin password etc. The installation software also updated the firmware on my box and then I was set to go.

I hooked up the software to both a wireless computer (my laptop) and a wired computer so I could see what the difference is like.

So far so good.

[Jake]

I see from the link your provided they don't package an HD cable and it looks like it is proprietary. They must be figuring not a lot of users are going to be using the HD capabilities. Is that true? I only ask because even 480P widescreen would be nice out of the box for all those widescreen TVs we have.

[hugh]

Yes to both questions. I was really surprised at this.

[Larry]

I personally don't see a need for the HD-connect. I have my 8300HD hooked up to the S-video input/output, and it looks great when viewing remotely. Unless you want to view in Full screen, I don't think you'll see much of a difference between HD and S-video, and I don't think it increases the transmission rate, so I doubt you'd be getting HD in any event.

[TurnItOnAgain]

Just got a Slingbox PRO on a 30-day trial - and also surprised by lack of the cable which would indeed match the marketing of an "HD" unit (and enable thorough testing).

Installation was pretty straight forward - especially liked the firmware update being integrated into setup - and picture quality is decent.

For a networkable unit, biggest surprise is the access restriction to one user at a time. With help file screenshots of multiple "Slingboxes" residing on a network, this would clearly be an expensive solution to implement within homes where resident spouses travel independently, or family/roomers include two or more remote viewers.

Maybe another use for Terminal Server or PC Anywhere(?)

Biggest personal challenge is a local one. The set-top digital cable box Look provides (an RCA TRD04M3C) isn't recognized by Slingmedia's IR controller, and a couple hours on the 'net have proven fruitless.

[hugh]

After using this a few times, I agree with Larry. The picture quality is pretty good but the limitation is going to be more a function of bandwidth than the cable.

[TurnItOnAgain]

Agree that the lack of an HD cable wouldn't necessarily be an issue - if of the three remaining input "channels", there was more than one SVHS input available.

[cyclo]

I have a question regarding the PRO, on the lower right hand corner of the Slingplayer software you will see the "throughput" of the video stream... you might have to click on it to show kbps rather than fps. On the local network (LAN not over the internet), what are you guys getting? I am just wondering how it compares with the classic Slingbox... I get about 2000 kbps on the LAN.

[sansp00]

I was wondering what were the biggest diff between the classic and the new line of Slingboxes. The classic are quite cheap on ebay and I was wondering if it was worth it to pull the trigger on one.
Patrick S.

[hugh]

I am just wondering how it compares with the classic Slingbox... I get about 2000 kbps on the LAN

Seems to me I have seen it as high as 5700 but I'll check again. Don't know if it would be higher with HD.

Haven't tested but I doubt it would be any higher if you're watching away from home

[WestCDA]

I get around about 2000+ Kbps on my network at home, using an original Slingbox 'Classic'.

On the road I've found it's highly dependent on the bandwidth available at the place I'm using it, which varies wildly. Some hotels I've been lucky to get 200 Kbps, and the picture quality reflects that.

[JesseJ]

So I could theoretically set this up to an HD source in the US and watch everything in (somewhat) HD on my computer/big screen in Canada?

[cyclo]

Originally Posted by sansp00

I was wondering what were the biggest diff between the classic and the new line of Slingboxes. The classic are quite cheap on ebay and I was wondering if it was worth it to pull the trigger on one.
Patrick S.

I haven't gotten my hands on the PRO yet but the biggest difference appears to be the picture quality over the Local Area Network (LAN). Over the internet the quality is limited by your connection's upload speeds anyways so the Classic and the PRO will probably have similar PQ.

[TurnItOnAgain]

Originally Posted by cyclo

On the local network (LAN not over the internet), what are you guys getting? I am just wondering how it compares with the classic Slingbox... I get about 2000 kbps on the LAN.

Getting roughly 2150 Kb/s when viewing a digital cable signal in stereo via coax connected over a Fast Ethernet LAN intranet.

Hugh - is your Slingbox on a Gig LAN?



Jeff